To milwaukee gas



April 26 1927.

O- SPAHR FLASH IGNITER FOR GAS BURNERS Filed Jan. 23, 1924 INVENTOR OTToSPHHR W)? NM ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 26, 1927.

UNITED STATES 1,625,964 PATENT OFFICE.

OTTO SPAHR, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGN-MENTS, TO MILWAUKEE GAS SPECIALTY COMPANY, OF MILXVAUKEE, WISCONSIN,

A. CORPORATION OF WISCONSIN.

FLASH IGNITER FOR GAS BURNERS.

Application filed January 23, 1924.

My invention relates to lighters for gas stoves and more particularly tothat type thereof which are commonly termed flash igniters and whicheither occupy a fixed position in the gas stove for igniting any one ormore of a series of burners therein or are adjustably mounted in saidgas stove for selectively igniting any one of said series of burners.The object of the present invention is to provide a novel arrangementwhereby the fiow of gas through the igniter is elliciently controlled ina simple and positive manner. A further object of the invention is toprovide a simplified construction whereby the pilot light, customarilyfound in igniters of the type referred to, is economically maintainedand efiiciently controlled. Other objects of the invention will appearfrom the description hereinafter.

In the accompanying drawing, which i1- lustrates an example of theinvention without defining its limits, Fig. l is a side elevation,partly in section, of the lighter; Fig. 2 is a sectional elevation on anenlarged scale; Fig. 3 is an inverted plan view of Fig. 2; Fig. 4 is adetail section on the line l4: of Fig. 2 and Fig. 5 is a detail view ofthe controlling valve.

For the purpose of describing the invention I have chosen an igniter ofthe type which is generally arranged to swing in circular arcs to bringthe firing head into cooperative relation with the gas burner which itis desired to ignite; it will be understood that this is only an examplewhich is not intended to nor does it define the limits of the invention.

As shown in the drawing, the lighter comprises a supply tube 10 providedat its free end with a burner or nozzle 11 located in a firing head 12of any suitable construction, said tube 10 having its other end inscrewthreaded connection with the boss 13 of a hollow valve plug 14. Thelatter is rotatably mounted in a valve casing 15 in the well known wayand is provided with a spring 16 which bears against the valve casing 15with one end and against a head 17 carried by the valve plug 14 with itsother end. In the preferred arrangement the head 17 is screwed upon ascrew-threaded extension of a plug 14, so as to be capable of adjustingthe tension of the spring 16; a stop 17* is fixed upon said extension tolimit the move- Serial No. 687,887.

ment of said head thereon and to prevent a binding of the parts. Thevalve casing 15 is connected by means of a branch pipe 18 with theheader or main supply pipe 19 of the gas stove in the well known way. As

shown in the illustrated example, the valve plug 14: is formed with anaxial passage 20 communicating with a transverse channel 21 which at itsouter end communicates with an annular groove 22 formed on the valveplug in registry with the axial passage 23 of the branch pipe 18 wherebythe valve casing is connected with the supply pipe 19. The axial passage20 at one end is formed with a valve seat 24 and connected with theinterior chamber 25 of the valve plug, said chamber being of relativelylarger diameter and open at its outer end and being also incommunication with the boss 13 and consequently with the tube 10. Theopen end of the interior chamber 25 is closed by means of ascrew-threaded bushing 26 in which the valve stem 27 is slidablymounted, said valve stem at its inner end being formed with a needlevalve 28 adapted to co-operate with the valve seat 24 to control theflow of gas to the burner or nozzle 11. For the purpose of centering thestem 27 in the chamber 25 and to guide it in its movements in saidchamber, a rectangular nut 29 is adjustably mounted upon said stem whichis screwthreaded at its inner end to receive said nut, as shown in Fig.4: the nut 29 is so dimensioned that its corners are in engagement withthe wall of the chamber 25 and its sides spaced therefrom to form spacesfor the passage of the gas when the valve is open. The valve 28 ismaintained in and returned to its closed position by means of a spring30 which surrounds the stem 27 and bears with its one end against saidnut 29 and has its other end in engagement with a washer 31 looselymounted upon said stem preferably within the bushing 26 as shown in Fig.2. The washer 31 in turn abuts against a felt or corresponding packing32 which surrounds the stem 27 within an interior recess with which thebushing 26 is provided, the inner surface of the aforesaid recess isbevelled at its outer end as shown at 26 for the purpose to be morefully described hereinafter.

At its outer end, exteriorly of the valve plug 14;, the stem 27 isprovided with a head y is pivoted at 33 which may comprise an integralpart of said stem or be rigidly secured thereto as desired. On its undersurface this head is provided with parallel grooves or recesses 33extending completely across the head as shown in Fig. 5. These recesses33 are located upon opposite sides of the stem 27 and are adapted toreceive the forked end 34: of an operating handle 35, it beingunderstood that each recess 33 accommodates one member of said forkedend. The handle 35 36 upon a suitable lug 37 ex tendingoutwardly fromthe valve plug l t as shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The outer surface of thehead 33 is tint and is adapted to en gage the head 38 oi" a stop screw39 adjustably mounted upon the. valve plug i l and projecting thereformbetween the forked end as shown in Figs. 2 and 3.

In order to maintain a pilot flame at the burner 11, the valve stem 27is provided with an axial channel lO which extends inwardly from theapex of the valve 28 and terminates at aseat 4-1 extending in a plane atright angles to the axis or the stem at an intermediate point therco'l.Exit apertures ll are located at diametrically oppositepoints of thestem 27 in close proximity to the seat 41 and establish communicationbetween the channel 40 and the tube 10. li -ith this arrangement arestricted amount ot gas passes at all times, even when the valve isclosed, through the channel d to the apertures ll and thence to thechamber from the latter the restricted amount ot gas passes to the pipeand the burner 11 and serves to sustain a pilot flame thereat. For thepurpose of regulating this restricted flow of gas and to control. thesize of the pilot light a valve 42 projects from the inner end of ascrew d2 which is axliustably mounted in the stem 27 and eateriorlythereof is provided with a head as for manipulating said valve; the freeend of the latte is flat and in the one extreme position of said screw,is adapted to engage the seat 411 and thereby close the inner end 01 thechannel to completely cutoff the supply of through the same. Byadjusting said end ot the screw valve away lIOIU sa' d inner end oi 'thechannel to a greater or lesser extent, the flow of gas through the sameregul'z. ed to increase or diminish the size of the pilot flame at willand to adjust it in a manner to conserve the consumption of gas in aneconomical.

manner and to provide a pilot light of maximum and uniform etiicreney.

The lighter operated in. the customary manner; that is to say, it may beswung in an are having the plug 14: as a center, to bring; the firinghead '12 and with it the nozzle or burner 11 1nto co-operative relationwith the burner which it is desired to ignite. After this adjustment hasbeen had the handle 35 is pivotally actuated in the masses well knownway to more the needle valve 28 in a direction away from the seatWhereby the amount o't gas which re ches the nozzle or burner 11 and thepilot iiame thereat is temporarily increased so that a correspondinglycnlar ed flame temporarily produced whereby the gas at the selectedburner is ignited. As soon as the handle 35 is released the valve willbe re turned to its normal position by the action of the spring 30, inwhich position said valve is closed and the flow oi? to the burner isagain reduced to that which passes throughthe axialchannel ll) forstaining the pilot ligl'it. Asthe handle 35 is manipic lated to open thevalve 28. the will be moved lengthwise relatively to the bush ing 26 andaccordingly will compress the spring 30; the latter in turn will pressagainst the washer 31 and cause it to lorce the feltor other packingagainst the inclined interior surface 26 ct said bushing 26. 'lhiscauses the packing to be compressed against the inner wall of the hushing and against the stemQT, this compression against the elementsreferred to, being increased by the action the inclined surface 26 onsaid packing. In this way an absolutely gastight sliding tit oi the stem2'? in the bushing 26 secured at the time when it is most needed, thatiswhen the valve 8 is open and the full supply of is is pas. 11;: to theburner 11. That is to say the further the handle is manipulated to openthe valve 8 and consequently the further the latter is opened the moregas-tight will the packing become.

The described arrangen'lent of combined needle valve and pilot lightvalve permits the needle valve ZS'to be firmly seated upon the seat 2%in the closed position and consequent-1y avoids the :tormation ofobjectionable spaces in which dirt and foreign matter may become lodgedand thus interfere with the proper operation of the device. At the sametime by reason of the tact that the needle valve positivelyiengages theseat with. a wcdging efiect the latter .is maintained free fromforeignmatter. The described arrangement also avoids all necessity forthe provision of special passages for maintaining a pilot light inoperation and reduces the construction to the utmost simplicityand atthe sameti ne, makes the regulation of the pilotlight a positiveandsimple matter. The

latter is due to the fact that the outer end of the head l3 of the pilotvalve 42 is, generally speaking, in a readily accessible location.

It will be noted that the guide nut 29 at all points within its range ofadjustment, is located near the end of the stem 27 in close proximity tothe needle valve 28 thereof. The stem 27 is thus positively guided bythe bushing 26 and the nut 29 at two points retill spectively near itsopposite ends whereby said stem is efficiently held in its intendedaxial alinement and is uniformly guided with a minimum of friction.

The recesses 33 of the head in which the members of the forked end 3stof the handle 35 are located serve to protect said members and at thesame time, in co-operation therewith, prevent unintentional rotation ofthe stem 27 and its associated parts, whereby the adjustment of thedevice might be disturbed. By extending the recesses 33 completelyacross the head 33 the latter may be connected with the forked end 3%with special. regard to the position of said head.

By adjusting the stop screw 39 to position its head 38 with respect tothe head 33, the opening movement of the valve 28 may be automaticallyarrested at a predetermined point; the extent of opening of said valvemay thus be positively predetermined and an adjustment efi'ected wherebywaste of gas is prevented and a most economical opera tion of the burnerconsistent with etficient results is automatically obtained.

In many cases, the construction of the gas stove and the arrangement ofthe parts thereof, makes it desirable to install the lighter therein ina reversed position or, in other words, upside down with respect to theposition illustrated in the drawing. It will be understood that thearrangement shown and described is capable of being utilized in suchreversed position without in any way reducing its efficiency and thatthe illustrated position is only an example which in no sense definesthe limits of the invention.

Various changes in the specific form shown and described may be madewithin the scope of the claims without departing from the spirit of myinvention.

I claim:

1. A gas lighter comprising a valve casing connected with a source ofgas, a valve plug rotatably mounted therein, a supply tube carried byand communicating with said plug, a burner carried by said tube, a valveseat in said plug, a valve stem slidably mounted therein and projectingoutwardly beyond the same, a valve at the inner end of said stemco-operating with said seat to control the supply of gas to said burner,said valve stem having a restricted axial passage and communicatingapertures for supplying a restricted amount of gas to said burner tomaintain a pilot flame thereat, a head on said stem exteriorly of saidvalve plug, said head having parallel spaced recesses extending acrossthe same in diametric directions, a handle pivoted on said plug andhaving a forked end projecting beneath said head into the recessesthereof for actuating said valve and for pivotally adjusting said valveplug and its associated elements relatively to said casing, and a stopadjustably mounted upon said valve plug and adapted to be engaged bysaid head to arrest the opening of said valve at a predetermined point.

2. A gas lighter comprising a valve casing connected with a source ofgas, a valve plug rotatably mounted therein, a supply tube carried byand communicating with said plug, a burner carried by said tube, a valveseat in said plug, a valve slidably mounted therein to control the flowof gas to said burner, a recessed head connected with said valve stemand located exteriorly of said plug, a handle pivoted on said plug andhaving a forked end projecting beneath said head into the recessesthereof for actuating said valve and for pivotally swinging said valveplug and its associated elements relatively to said casing and a. stopscrew mounted upon said plug and having its head in the path of therecessed head of said valve for arresting the opening of said valve at apredetermined point.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand.

OTTO SPAHR.

